Gary Pomerantz: The Devil's Tickets

Gary Pomerantz talks about his new true- crime book set in Kansas City, The Devil’s Tickets: A Night of Bridge, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age, on Wednesday, June 24, at 7 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

This true story follows the sensational murder trial of Myrtle Bennett, a glamorous Kansas City housewife who kills her husband over a game of bridge in their Plaza apartment in 1929. Coming to her defense is former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate James A. Reed, a riveting orator who had represented the likes of Henry Ford in court. The story also includes Ely Culbertson, an early bridge promoter from New York.

Through these larger-than-life characters and the timeless partnership game they played, The Devil’s Tickets evokes the last echoes of the Roaring 20’s and the darkness of the Depression. Ultimately it reveals a tension between husbands and wives that is eternal and that manifests itself at the bridge table—both then and now—in ways surprising and profound.

Pomerantz is an author and journalist, whose previous works include Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn and Wilt, 1962. He is a lecturer in the Department of Communication at Stanford University. In his book he credits Sherrie Smith of the Library’s Missouri Valley Special Collections for research assistance.

The event is co-sponsored by Rainy Day Books. Copies of The Devil’s Tickets will be available for sale, and the author will sign copies during the event.